New Romantics
by Lynyrd Lionheart
Summary: They bicker like an old married couple, and he gets in trouble way more than she likes, but somehow Caroline and Enzo become family, for better or for worse.
1. When It's Right

**AN: I decided I wanted to write a bunch of interconnected one shots following the Carenzo friendship, from fledgling stage to having each other's back against the world. Because I ship this friendship harder than any romantic ship in the TVD 'verse.**

**When it's right**

"So, are you signing up for classes again? Glad you're taking my advice, Gorgeous."

Caroline freezes for a moment when she feels the presence at her back, words whispered a little too close to her ear. She's standing at a desk at the Whitmore registration office, compelling herself back into school, but she knows that voice.

"Stefan said he saved you," she states, going back to filling out the form. "I thought you would be halfway to the hell away from here by now."

"I considered it, but road trips are so boring when you're along. Want to come along?"

His expression is keen and cajoling and it makes Caroline roll her eyes and smile at the same time. She's glad he's alive, she realizes. Even feels relief, that he's there, flirting with her and calling her Gorgeous. She wonders what it says about her, that she would miss him, homicidal tendencies and all, if he were to die.

"It sounds very tempting," Caroline informs him dryly. "Except that someone once told me that I can't get by on my good looks forever so I'd better go to school."

"Sounds like a smart someone," Enzo replies, moving from behind her to lean on the counter next to her. She can feel him reading the forms, but ignores him to concentrate on writing. Until he tugs the papers away from her grip, and she lets out an indignant sound and tries to get them back. "Although I'm pretty sure that someone didn't mean for you to sign up for _drama_. What are you going to do with that?"

"The same thing Elena will do with her medical license, I imagine – _absolutely nothing_" – Caroline stops trying to get the forms back and takes a step back, crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently – "it's difficult to get a job when you look like you're eternally seventeen. So I'll get a degree, just to say I have one and then live my life like every other creature of the undead."

"By travelling the world in class and feeding on the very freshest blood you can find?" Enzo replies, forms still dangling from his fingertips. But he's not focused on them anymore, and with a quick lunge, Caroline manages to grab them back and gives him a smug look.

"Nope," she replies. "By sitting in a bar and drinking like I want liver failure."

She begins to fill out the form again, but then pauses after a moment. She's re-registering for Elena. Because Damon is stalking her, and Elena still has no memories of him, and they're both mourning Bonnie all over again, so Caroline is coming back to be with her friend, and it was pure instinct that had her signing up for the same major. But she dropped that so easily once…

"What would you take?" she asks suddenly, and Enzo looks almost surprised by the question and says nothing. She lets out a sigh of annoyance, because of course he was all vocal until she actually _asks_ for his opinion. She's about to make a snarky comment, when Enzo grabs the guide of courses from the shelf in one hand and her wrist in the other and all but drags her to a pair of chairs against the wall.

"Let's see… pre-med is out of course. Elena is already taking that, and you don't strike me as the type to enjoy being vomited on."

"You are correct," Caroline deadpans. "Plus hospitals give me the heebies. I died in a hospital. So did my dad. So, no. No medicine."

"Wouldn't be of much use to you anyway. You're a vampire. Knowing how to perform open heart surgery is only important if you have a heart, and losing ours is the only heart damage that we can't heal. Have you ever thought about accounting?"

"That sounds wonderfully _boring_. What exactly about me screams _accountant_ to you? I'd like to know so I can change it."

"It's the grandmother cardigans," Enzo replies without even bothering to look up, flipping through a few more pages of the book. Caroline looks down at her cardigan. It's pink and lovely and warm. Absolutely nothing grandmother-ish about it.

It gets discarded on the seat of the chair next to her, and Enzo looks up just long enough to eyeball her cleavage and earn himself a slap upside the head.

"Well that was rude," is all he says before jabbing his finger at the pages. "English? Perhaps you'll be the next great novelist?"

"My taste in books runs more to _Twilight_ and _The Hunger Games_ than Hemingway and Wilde. Anything older than I am is boring."

"That is blasphemy, Gorgeous," Enzo states, meeting her gaze. She just quirks and eyebrow and he shakes his head sadly. "It's downright sad, in fact. I'm sad for you."

"Ooh, the psycho murderer is sad for me. I think I've hit rock bottom. Now I'm sad for me."

"We'll be sad for you together."

"Oh shut up" – Caroline reaches out and pulls the registration book away from him – "honestly, what in here is actually useful to the vicious undead? You learn absolutely nothing practical at university. I'd be better off getting my plumbing papers."

"Would you start sporting the plumber's crack? Because I'm not sure you can pull that look off, Gorgeous."

Caroline rolls her eyes again, and Enzo just dodges another slap to the head, grasping her wrist with a laugh. She meets his gaze for a second, then finds herself chuckling as well. This is so ridiculous, two vampires debating college education and its benefits.

It feels good, she realizes with surprise. It feels carefree. She's been so caught up in the drama of Elena and Damon, and her own dying friendship with Stefan, and mourning for Bonnie, that she's forgotten what it feels like to laugh.

And it feels _good_.

"If you could be anything," Enzo says as their laughter finally dies and they can breathe again. "What would it be? Absolutely anything."

"Ruler of the world," Caroline replies immediately. "I would own that bitch. But that's not exactly an option."

"No, it's not," Enzo agrees. "But it is what you do best. You're a leader, Gorgeous. And even vampires need leaders."

"So what? I drop school to go take over some city?" Caroline scoffs, thinking of Klaus and his siblings and how the last she heard, he was King of New Orleans or some other bullshit like that. Caroline didn't want to be a _king_ (or queen). She wants… she just wants…

"I want to be respected," she says at last, tapping her fingers on the book. "I want to people to say my name with a little fear and a lot of awe. I don't want to be anybody's victim anymore."

Enzo considers her, and she wonders if he's thinking of his own experiences, with Tripp and Augustine, because if anyone knows what it is to be someone's victim, it's him. He pulls the book back, looks quickly at the table of contents, that rapidly flips through the book.

"There's your answer," he states, placing the book pages up in her lap. Caroline frowns at him, then looks down at the pages.

_Political Science_.

"You want something practical for vampires, Gorgeous? Learn how the game works. How powers rise and fall, and how the humans involved in those rises and falls tick. We were all humans once, after all."

Caroline looks at the paper, at the requirements and the courses.

"History or psychology minor?" she asks after a moment, as he flashes up and grabs her a new registration form. She accepts and begins to fill out the slots.

"Double major," Enzo replies, and she pauses in her writing to stare at him. He shrugs easily. "Why not, Caroline? Don't tell me you don't have what it takes."

It's a dare, a challenge, and it makes her scowl. Because she has to prove him wrong now, and he knows that, dammit.

"History and Poli Sci," she mutters darkly, neatly printing the info. "You're coming to all the classes with me."

"I'm not registering for college at my age-"

"Who said anything about registering?" she demands, looking up to glare at him. "You're coming so you can help me study. Don't tell me you have anything better to do."

"I do actually… I just can't remember what it is at the moment."

Caroline smirks and looks down once more.

"Hey, Enzo?" she says after a moment.

"Yes?"

"Why _are_ you still here?"

She doesn't look at him, and for a long time, the only sound is her pen on the paper. Finally he sighs and readjusts himself in his seat.

"Have you ever met someone, and known that they would be important?"

_The Enzo._

_ No, the other one._

She hadn't liked him, he reminded her far too much of mistakes made in her past, but even then, something had told her he was important. She could still remember feeling as though she had lost something indefinable when she'd thought he was dead. Her whole life, her friends had been chosen out of proximity. Enzo was the first time she thought it might be simply because they were meant to be friends.

"Yeah," she says, looking up to meet his gaze dead on, hoping that he would understand what she was saying without having to actually say it. He met her gaze, and then gave the smallest of nods. He understood. "I'm glad you're safe, Enzo."

Enzo hums and grabs the form from her, scrawling another class down. He hands it back and Caroline rolls her eyes.

20th Century Lit.

"You need an English option, and we'll get you civilized yet."

Caroline snorts at the idea of _Enzo_ of all people teaching her how to be civilized and nudges his shoulder with hers. They lean over the book, flipping through the pages and arguing about every course for at least ten minutes before it gets written down.

By the time she hands in the form, compels the clerk to accept it, she's made Enzo promise to come to class with her. He's rolled his eyes repeatedly, but Caroline was ruthless.

It feels right, she thinks. The courses, her new path, even Enzo.

Like her laughter, she can't remember the last time anything she did felt right. She thinks she could get used to it.

**AN: And there is the first one. I'm open to suggestions of things you would like to see. Let me know here, or through tumblr where I am lynyrdwrites.**


	2. Making a Mark

**AN: And it continues. More Carenzo BroTP antics – or, as it's been coined on Tumblr, more Frienzoline antics. Please enjoy:**

**Making a Mark**

The first time she enters Enzo apartment is a revelation, and not the good kind of revelation, either.

"Wow," she says, looking around. "It's…" – good manners dictate she should say _nice_ or _it's a big space_, anything that's somewhat polite. But this is Enzo, and good manners always seem to fly out the window around him – "This place is depressing. Is that a _towel_ hanging in your window? _Really_."

"Please, Caroline, tell me how you really feel. Holding nothing back," Enzo drawls in reply, reaching into his fridge and pulling out a blood bag, tossing it to her. B+, her favorite. "I believe we're here to discuss _The Great Gatsby_, not my furniture preferences."

"What furniture?" she replies, motioning at what she is pretty sure is supposed to be the den. At least in any normal apartment it would be. "You have a Lay-z-boy that smells kind of like cat and a folding lawn chair. What kind of furniture is that?"

Enzo frowns, looking at the chairs in question, and gives a careless shrug, as though to say _what can you do_?

"No!" Caroline declares emphatically. "No. There is no _what can you do_ about this. This is easily fixed. This requires an Amex and a shopping cart-"

"I don't have an Amex. I've been dead and locked up for decades, Gorgeous. Credit cards weren't even a thing when I was last free. Now, _The Great Gatsby_?"

He walks over to sprawl in the lay-z-boy, and Caroline just stares him down until he looks up and sees her there, arms crossed and expression completely unimpressed. For a moment, confusion covers his face until realization dawns when she gives a pointed glare to the folding chair and he hops to his feet.

"Would you like a seat?" he asks in a tone that is so carefully polite it comes across as rude and Caroline scoffs but gracefully takes the seat.

"Thank-you," she replies in the same tone before tearing into the blood bag. Enzo rolls his eyes in response and sits in the folding chair.

It promptly snaps beneath his weight, sending him sprawling in a tangle of limbs and chair and curses falling from his lips. Caroline feels a brief moment of surprise, because she hadn't expected that, but then the edges of her lips curl up, and soon she's trying, and failing, to muffle her giggles with her hand.

"Laugh it up, Blondie," Enzo mutters, kicking at the chair until it disentangles from his legs. He gets to his feet and stares down at the wreck. "Well, hell. What do I do now? That was my spare chair!"

Caroline sighs and finishes her blood bag and gets to her feet. She grabs her purse from the counter, where it sits next to her copy of _The Great Gatsby_ and swings in over her shoulder.

"Come on, then. If I'm going to have to spend any length of time here studying with you, then all of this" – she motions around his too-bare apartment – "has to change. You need furniture. And some color. Maybe a nice print or two for your walls" – she opens a cupboard and looks at his glasses, it's a mixture of cheap plastic and mismatched glass and it makes her mutter – "and matching china. Definitely matching china."

"You know, no one is making you spend time here," Enzo points out, frowning as she opens the door and waves for him to pass through. "I'm really only going to those classes of yours because you obtained a promise under duress and wouldn't let me back down. If you're going to be so picky, I'm certain I can find better uses for my time."

"No, you won't. Because you can whine all you want, but you know my textbooks better than I do, you nerd, and you _like_ those courses. You were totally sucking up to Prof Wincowski the other day, and you aren't even actually registered in the class. You're in too deep to back out now."

"I can always back out," Enzo grumbles as he grabs his keys and wallet and stomps past her. "Or I can just back out on you. Let's see you make it through Fitzgerald without me."

It would have been a challenge Caroline would have accepted from anyone else, but from Enzo it's just grumpy mutters that she easily ignores. He would no more abandon her to the wilds of _The Great Gatsby_ than he would fall on a stake to save Stefan Salvatore, and that had about as much a chance of happening as a snowball did surviving in hell.

"I guess we'll have to use my Amex," Caroline says instead as she walks next to him down the hall. "That means we'll have a budget – I have a limit – but I'm a champion budget shopper. You should have seen how low the final price was when I was furnishing the dorm room. It's like a fine art."

"Shopping a fine art. I'm sure," Enzo deadpans, and Caroline has to bit back a chuckle, because she's pretty sure this is the first time she's ever managed to truly irritate him. She thinks it's nice for a chance, to be the one doing the annoying, rather than being annoyed.

"You mock, but it takes talent, Enzo-"

"A talent we won't need," he says with a sigh, and she is pretty sure she can pinpoint the exact minute he gives into her whims and realizes there is no getting out of her grasp now. Not in this matter. It's in the way his shoulders fall ever so slightly, a sure sign of defeat, and the way he closes his eyes for a brief second, as though stealing himself for the truth – that this is his reality, and it means she'll be dragging him to IKEA. "Damon knew a fellow that knows a thing or two about technology. After Wes' death, he had no living relatives. Except for me. According to the will he made shortly before his death, at least."

Caroline raises a brow, and Enzo shrugs carelessly and completely unrepentant.

"He owed me," is all he says, and Caroline finds that she doesn't really have an argument for that.

NEW-ROMANTICS

IKEA is busy and Caroline feels her adrenaline rise as she found a parking spot and turned off the car. As her excitement rises, Enzo begins to all but wilt in the seat next to her.

"Not a shopper?" she asks him with a raised brow.

"Not a fan of that unholy light in your eyes," he replies, eying her somewhat uneasily. "You seem rather… enthusiastic, Gorgeous. I think it may frighten me a little."

"Don't worry," she pats his arm with mock sympathy. "It will only hurt a little. Now… what color scheme do you want?"

"Hell," he mutters banging his head against the headrest before exiting the car to follow her, because Caroline isn't waiting around for slow pokes, and she's already speed walking towards the entrance. He has to jog to catch up to her, and even then she's nearly to the entrance of the store. "Can't we do this sort of thing online? I'm certain I've heard of online shopping."

"Please. Online is nice and all, but here you can actually test stuff out. You can sit in the chairs and on the couches. You can actually feel textures. No online store can fully replace good old fashioned sensory shopping. Now stop being such a baby."

This time, she grabs his hand and pulls him behind her through the automatic doors. They draw a few stares, the perky little blonde manhandling the pouting man as though he's a piece of furniture sitting in her way. Enzo lets her, but even if he hadn't, he thinks she might have out-muscled him anyway, so powerful is her single-minded determination to furnish his home.

As far as he is concerned, IKEA is hell. There are too many people, and while such a thing might normally be considered prime hunting grounds, these people all move with the same determined stride as Caroline. All that stress, he thinks, can't leave the blood tasting good. Then his attention is drawn away from blood as Caroline shoves him onto a white sofa that is more about style than comfort and he scowls up at her.

"No," he declares, getting to his feet immediately. "Absolutely not."

"It's fashionable!" she argues.

"And I don't care," he shoots back. "First off, it's bloody uncomfortable. And second? It's white. I don't want white. White requires cleaning. And that is far too… _girly_."

"Girly?" – her voice is incredulous and she rolls her eyes – "Whatever. And we both know how you feel about cleaning. I still can't believe you kept that stinking chair. Literally stinking."

"It was comfortable," Enzo replies, taking a seat in a large, overstuffed recliner. _This_, he thinks as he reclines, _is more like it_. It's comfortable, made out of dark brown, almost black, leather, and molds perfectly to him. "Now _this_ is what I'm talking about."

"That?" Caroline wrinkles her nose. "It's a beast… but whatever. That couch over there matches the color…"

Enzo glances in the direction she points and shakes his head.

"Nope!" he replies cheerfully, far more happy now that he sees opportunity to annoy her with this trip. "Not at all what I'm looking for… over there! The black one. Now _that_ is a couch."

And then he takes off, grabbing Caroline's hand to drag her behind him. He feels her stumble and quickly catches her and straightens her, because while annoying her is amusing he would never want to _actually_ hurt her. Once he's sure she's steady, he begins to pull her behind him once more until they reach the couch he had been looking at. He plops down gracelessly and pulls her down next to him.

"Don't sit there looking so prim and disapproving, Gorgeous. Give a little wiggle" – as though to demonstrate what he wants her to do, he gives his own little wiggle, feeling the couch mold to him as he does so – "come on, Caroline. You were the one that brought me here. Get into the spirit a bit."

Caroline just stares at him, and he looks back at her, forcing his expression into a mock of her look of displeasure. Finally, a reluctant smile curves her lips and she shakes her head before giving a little wiggle.

"There we go!" he says cheerfully. "Comfortable, isn't it?"

"It doesn't match that monstrosity of a chair you want. Like, at all. Brown and black clash horribly."

"Because I care so very much about clashing colors. It's of grave importance to me."

"Oh, shut up. I get to pick out a love seat. And it _will_ match the couch."

"Whatever you say."

Caroline takes far longer than he does to pick out furniture. She has to dash between pieces she likes and the couch several times, each time shaking her head when the colors don't match just perfectly. Enzo finally returns to the overstuffed chair he picked earlier, waiting patiently for her to find something that meets her high standards. When it becomes clear he will be there for a while, he even gets up to look at the lamps.

Caroline finally finds a loveseat that matches the couch, and that she even thinks will meet his strict standards and gives one of those wiggles before clapping her hands happily, reclining it back.

"What do you think about this one? It has that man cave vibe, so you can't argue that I'm making it all too girly anymore. And it's comfy" – there's no reply, and Caroline sighs and takes the loveseat out of reclining position – "The silent treatment? Really Enzo?"

She looks around, but he's nowhere to be seen. He had been there just seconds ago, sitting in that ridiculous chair. She gets to her feet and spins around with a frown. God, shopping with him is like trying to herd a headstrong, temperamental kitten!

"Enzo?" she says, raising her voice slightly and hoping he's listening. "Where did you get to?"

"Back here, Gorgeous!" he replies before she can really work up her anger. His voice comes from between two shelves, and she wanders down, pillows lining the aisles on either side. He's standing in the middle, holding a ridiculously overstuffed pink pillow and grinning at her. "I found a pillow just for you to use whenever you come over."

She wants to be irritated, because isn't he the one that wanted to make this quick? And now here he is, picking up frivolous things… but the pillow is pink and fluffy and written on it in white cursive are the words _Hello, Gorgeous_. She feels her lips curve in a smile as she reaches out to take the pillow. It fills her arms, and she can't help but chuckle, because it will completely clash with all of the other "man cave" purchases they've made and will stick out like a sore thumb, but doesn't that kind of fit them perfectly?

"I've found a love seat that will work," she tells him, hugging the pillow. "Come and take a look at it and tell me what you think."

He grins at her, and she grins back over the top of the silly pink pillow.

The next time she visits his place, all of the purchases have been delivered, and the placement gets a nod of approval, because it finally looks like someone is living there. The couch and the loveseat and the overstuffed chair that doesn't quite fit in, but that he insisted on. It's angled perfectly to face the wide screen TV that's been mounted on the wall. She had nothing to do with it, can all but see Damon's fingerprints all over that purchase, and the new stock in the bar.

And there, sitting neatly on the couch and clashing with all the black leathers and wood finishes is the pillow, welcoming her brightly – _hello Gorgeous_ – and marking her place in his life for all to see.

**AN: Thank-you to all who have read/reviewed, and I hope you'll stay tuned for more Frienzoline in the future!**


	3. A Frienzoline Friendsgiving

**AN: No Enzo at Friendsgiving in canon? Never fear – **_**New Romantics**_** is here! Please enjoy this special holiday edition of Frienzoline.**

**A Frienzoline Friendsgiving**

"You are such an ass!"

Enzo sighs as Caroline bursts through the door, a flurry of blonde curls and pink skirt and angry teenage vampire. She stomps up to the chair where he's reclined, reading _1984_, and simply stands there, arms crossed, eyes glaring.

"And why am I an ass, Gorgeous?" he asks, although he already knows the answer.

He probably shouldn't have allowed his temper to get the better of him, probably shouldn't have told Stefan about Caroline's little crush on him… but she had been there, angry with the world, worried about her mother, and Stefan had been so damn _clueless_. Enzo hadn't been able to stop himself, needed to wipe that confused expression off of the younger Salvatore's face. And part of him had, perhaps, been overly frustrated with Caroline as well.

Because she was foolish over someone that didn't deserve it, and why the hell couldn't she see that?

"I don't need you screaming my feelings to the world. Feelings I'm still not entirely sure on myself. Especially not to the person I'm feeling them _for_."

She looks so frightfully indignant, and any other time Enzo would find it endearing. But today he's not in the mood.

He's still frustrated with her, he realizes. Oh, he's felt frustration before, but not like this. This goes beyond exasperation, ventures dangerously close to genuine anger. And it's misplaced, because doesn't Enzo know better than most that you don't choose who your heart picks?

But her heart chose _wrong_, and it's frustrating, that he will continue to watch her cry over a bloke that doesn't deserve her tears.

"Well, I think I cleared them well, don't you? You fancy Stefan. Now deal with it."

"That isn't how this works," she says after a long pause. "You don't get to be angry at me, not about this. Not today."

She walks past him, sits on the couch and picks up the pink cushion, _Hello Gorgeous_ written in white cursive, and hugs it close to her chest. She looks up at him, and he realizes that her eyes are glimmering with tears, and he feels the misplaced anger drain from him.

"Hell, Gorgeous, don't cry. You know I don't handle your tears well."

"I'm not crying," she replies, and her voice is petulant. She rests her chin on the pillow and looks at him. "He was my best friend, you know. I mean I love Bonnie and Elena, but they were always each other's best friend, and I got left out. Stefan… Stefan might have been Elena's boyfriend, but he was _my_ best friend. And now it's been screwed up."

"Emotions are a pesky thing. They ruin things more than they ought."

Caroline chuckles at that, and then a tear falls from her eye and she buries her face in the pillow. Her shoulders begin to shake, and Enzo is horrible with her tears, wishes that Stefan had another girlfriend he could go and turn, but this time it's just the two of them and Caroline is crying, and Enzo doesn't know what to do. He sits next to her, perching on the very end of the couch. He reaches out slowly, almost afraid she might shy away from his touch, which is foolish because her face is still buried in the cushion and she can't see him anyway. He finally lets his hand rest on her back, then pats it, almost awkwardly, and Caroline lets out another wet chuckle. She looks up at him, her eyes glistening with tears, her nose swollen, and shakes her head.

"You are really awful at this, aren't you?" she asks, and she releases her hold on the pillow to reach up and carefully wipe away her tears, doing her best not to disturb her makeup.

"I was locked in a cell for over seventy years. I'm sorry if my people skills suffered for that," he grumbles, and he pulls his hand away. She reaches out, and he thinks it's probably impulse that has her doing it, but twines their fingers together and squeezes his hand.

"Thank-you, Enzo," she says, and he thinks it's probably the most genuine she's ever been with him. He gives her a small smile and shrugs, looking away awkwardly, because he's not used to this. He's been studying with her, has furnished his apartment with her… and through all of that they maintained their somewhat argumentative friendship. Now they're venturing close to actual connection, and for all that Enzo desires it, he doesn't know how to handle it.

"Careful, Blondie, or we might actually start talking about feelings with each other. I don't think you'd want to attempt girl talk with me. I'm horrible at braiding hair."

Caroline lets out a snort – unladylike and inelegant, and it's the first time that Enzo realizes he's only ever heard her give that reaction around him. To the rest of the world she's perfectly groomed, well maintained Miss Mystic Falls, and he has to blink as he realizes that they'd had that connection all along, he just hadn't realized it.

"I would never let you braid my hair, you jerk," she says, giving his shoulder a shrug, and Enzo almost falls off of the couch, so bowled over by his realization. Quick reflexes have him catching himself, and Caroline shakes her head again and gets to her feet. "And don't think I've forgiven you about letting the cat out of the bag to Stefan. So not girl code."

"I'm not a girl," is Enzo's lame response, and it has Caroline looking at him with a deadpan expression.

"Really," she drawls out slowly. "I hadn't noticed. Friendsgiving is Thursday. You're coming."

"Friendsgiving…" Enzo isn't sure if he's still shocked by his realizations, or if Caroline's line of thought really is that difficult to follow, but he finds himself staring at her in confusion.

"Yes, Friendsgiving. It's Thanksgiving, but for friends. Because most of mine have no family, and my mom has to work. So Friendsgiving. And you're bringing dessert. "

"I don't remember offering that, Gorgeous," Enzo points out, and Caroline simply smirks at him as she plucks up her bag and heads out the door.

"You didn't offer. But you broke girl code. So consider this your way of making it up to me."

Then she's gone, leaving Enzo feeling rather confused and not at all his quick-witted self.

"I'm not a girl!" he calls after her, but she's too far gone to hear.

FRIENZOLINE

"What is it supposed to be?" Elena asks, poking at the… _whatever _the hell it's supposed to be.

"Uh… I think it's a cake of some sort," Caroline replies, stepping back and narrowing her eyes, tilting her head slightly. "At least, if you look at it like this, it looks like a cake. Sort of. Enzo, what the hell is this?"

"It's dessert," Enzo replies drolly, because he's been standing there the whole time and it's taken fifteen minutes for one of the girls to actually _ask_ him what the dessert is. "And it's a Skor cake. Made it myself."

"Uh huh…" Caroline says while Elena looks from the cake to Enzo to Caroline, and then shrugs, making a retreat as a knock sounds on the door. "And have you ever baked before?"

"Not a once, Gorgeous," is his cheerful reply. "But for you I was willing to try."

Caroline opens her mouth and closes it again, because part of her wants to explain to Enzo in carefully chosen words what she meant when she said _dessert_ (hint: buy it at a store), but the other part of her, the part that was reared with good manners, says that wouldn't be polite. Because Enzo went to all this trouble, and…

"I'm sure it will be delicious!" she says in such a cheerful voice that Enzo's amused smirk falls away, replaced by suspicion and narrowed eyes. At the same time she speaks, Elena leads Liv and Luke into the room and the blonde raises her brows at the mess that sits between the two vampires.

"If you're talking about that… _thing_, I think you're lying," she states, and Caroline shoots her an unimpressed look. "Don't look at me like that – it looks like a reject for the blob. What is it?"

"Cake," Enzo replies, far too cheerfully for someone whose hard work is being insulted. "My first attempt at baking. I think it turned out rather well."

"I thought he was crazy," Luke says slowly, eyeing Enzo like he expects to be attacked at any moment. "Isn't he crazy?"

"He's Caroline's friend," Elena replies with a faux smile, because she hadn't entirely approved of Enzo's invite. But she also knows that some sort of bond has formed between the dark haired vampire and Caroline, so she's doing a relatively good job of holding her tongue.

"Gorgeous likes the crazies," Enzo says simply. "Plus, I brought dessert."

That brings all of their gazes back to the mess that is the cake, and Caroline wonders if it's too late to go and pick up a pie.

The door opens, this time without a knock, because it's Tyler and when has Tyler ever bothered to knock? Liam follows behind him, and Caroline bites back the urge to wrinkle her nose, and instead shoots Enzo a severe look when she hears him chuckle and look at the med student like he's a particularly yummy blood bag.

"Don't even think about it," she says quietly, and Elena shoots a quick, panicked look at Enzo, who ignores her in order to give Caroline his best innocent look. "That's Elena's boyfriend. Respect that."

"Because vampires and mortals never end up poorly," Enzo drawls, equally as quiet. "You should know better, Elena."

It's Elena's turn to ignore him, instead greeting Liam with a smile and a kiss while Tyler joins the twins and looks at Enzo with narrowed eyes.

"What's he doing here?" he demands, and Caroline rolls her eyes.

"I invited him," she replies shortly.

"Really, Care?" Tyler asks, giving her an exasperated look. "Another one?"

"Another one?" Luke asks in confusion while Enzo chuckles and Caroline glares.

"Shut up, Tyler. Enzo is my friends. He helps me study."

"And she helps me decorate my apartment," Enzo adds, because he just has to be a shit disturber.

"Enzo," Caroline says through gritted teeth. "Take the… _cake_ back with the rest of the food, won't you?"

Enzo throws a smirk her way, and picks up the cake, carrying it away. Tyler watches him go, and looks ready to make another comment, but thankfully Liam decides to interrupt before an argument over Caroline's choice in companions can begin.

"So… is that guy your boyfriend or something?"

Okay, not thankfully.

Caroline makes a strangled noise that falls somewhere between laughter and an agonized moan, because what is up with these people and thinking her and Enzo are a _thing_? First it's Ivy, now it's Liam?

"Hardly, mate," Enzo says, rejoining them. He rests an arm on Caroline's shoulder, leaning part of his weight on her and making her roll her eyes and shove him away. But she's smiling again, she realizes, and when Enzo throws her a wink she realizes that had been the point, and it makes her chest feel a little warm. "Caroline is my best friend."

"I thought that was Damon," Elena points out coolly, and the mention of the ex has Liam throwing her a quick look.

"Damon," he mutters, and the tone of voice tells Caroline that Damon had been his usual charming self with Liam. "You're actually friends with that asshole?"

"Careful mate," Enzo says, and Caroline wonders if Liam is aware enough to recognize the very real threat in his voice as he speaks. "Damon might be a bloody git, but he is _my_ bloody git. Only I'm allowed to insult him. And Gorgeous here."

Liam looks confused for a moment before he realizes that _Gorgeous_ is Caroline, and then he raises a brow and gets a look on his face, just like the one Tyler used to get, back when he was still the jackass of Mystic Falls and she wanted to punch him in the face half the time.

"But you guys aren't dating. Sure."

Caroline closes her eyes briefly and sends up a prayer for patience, because she has a feeling she'll need all the help she can get with that. When she opens them again, Enzo is looking at her, his expression clearly asking her if he can simply eat the bratty pre-med student. For a brief moment, Caroline is almost tempted to shrug and turn away, because what is Elena thinking anyway? There's no way that she and Liam will work out, and with Damon on the prowl to win her heart back…

Well, he did it once. Caroline still has no idea how, but if he did it once, he'll do it again.

But eating Liam would be wrong, so while he is smirking at Elena, she gives Enzo a tiny shake of her head, prompting him to sigh.

"So!" she says, clapping her hands and changing the subject. "Where are Matt and Jeremy?"

"Mystic Falls," Tyler tells her, and his voice clipped and short. She frowns at him, but he's glaring at Enzo, and she can't quite figure out what his problem is. Klaus she gets. Yeah, that wasn't one of her most intelligent decisions, but it had been hers and he had eventually moved past it. But she doesn't get the antagonism for Enzo, tries to recall when they had ever really spoken before, and comes up short.

"Well, if this is all of us, then what's for dinner, Gorgeous?" Enzo asks, quickly drawing Caroline's musings away from Tyler and back to current events.

"Turkey, duh," Liv drawls out with rolled eyes. "What, has Grandpa here forgotten what gets served at Thanksgiving?"

As soon as Liv finishes speaking, it's like there is a group wince from all but Liam, who simply looks confused, and Enzo, whose expression takes a devilish turn that Caroline knows can mean nothing good. The last time he'd looked like that, he'd told her not to cause a scene and then stabbed Stefan with a fork in front of Ivy.

Yeah, that dinner hadn't exactly ended well.

She steps on his foot, digging her heel in, and he winces and curses under his breath.

"Grandpa?" Liam asks, and once more he wears that shit-eating expression that makes Caroline want to punch him. "Are you really that old?"

"You have no idea," Enzo replies, dodging Caroline's next attempt to dig her heel in. "I'll go get the turkey then, shall I?"

"You can't just take it out of the oven!" Caroline says, and she just catches herself from flashing after him, instead following him at a human pace. "It's probably not even done yet."

"Are we really supposed to believe they're not dating?" she hears Liam ask behind her.

"They're not," is the reply, in a chorus of four voices.

Yeah, there is no way this dinner is going to end well.

FRIENZOLINE

"I can carve that!"

They managed, by good luck and Caroline's careful management and ability to glare Enzo into submission, to actually make it to meal time without an overly large disaster. Oh, Enzo made a couple allusions to Elena being a neck person, and the way he smirked at Liv and Tyler's poorly hidden flirtations had been just as poorly hidden. But no one is dead, and Caroline considers that a victory.

"Are you sure we should trust him around sharp objects?" Enzo asks in reply to Liam's offer. He takes a swig of the wine, that had come courtesy of Liv and her job at the bar, and raises a brow at Caroline.

"I'm pretty sure I can handle it," Liam points out. "Pre-med and all."

"Pre-med doesn't mean you have steady hands, mate. It just means you're _pre-med_. Not even real med yet. So not all that impressive."

"Oh?" Liam replies, and Elena looks to Caroline for help as her boyfriend glares at Enzo with wounded ego. "And what is it that you do, anyway?"

"Self-employment," Elena immediately blurts out.

"Travelling salesman," Tyler says at the same time.

"Historian," is Caroline's reply, because she figures she might as well stay as close to the truth as possible, and Enzo knows almost as much about history as he does _The Great Gatsby_, and she's pretty sure he's read that at least a hundred times.

"I like to kill people," Enzo deadpans, because he likes to stay as close to the truth as possible as well, and Caroline very nearly face palms.

Liam is left looking at them all with raised brows, because three blurted answers and one that, if true, would be very, _very_ illegal, doesn't quite add up.

Luckily for them all, Liam is kind of a douche, so he comes to his own conclusions.

"So you're unemployed," he says with a smug smirk. "Yeah, I think I'll carve the turkey."

"Have it your way," Enzo replies, picking up the knives and holding them out in offer, but Caroline recognizes that look again, and it just screams murder, and so moving as quickly as she dares, she grabs the knives and begins to carve it herself.

"Hostess' honor," is her reply with an almost pained smile. She quickly cuts the turkey, begins to pass the dishes around, and then, while Liam is distracted by food, glares at Enzo.

"What?" he asks, very quietly.

"You can't stab Elena's boyfriend," Caroline hisses in reply.

"Well, I _can_ stab Elena's boyfriend, actually. I'm very much capable of it-"

"Don't give me a freaking _grammar_ lesson, Enzo. You _won't_ stab Elena's boyfriend… _please_."

It's the magic word and it has Enzo sighing heavily, but he gives her the smallest of nods, which has Caroline's shoulders slumping in relief.

"Don't get the point of all of this," she hears him mutter under his breath, and Caroline looks at him, ready to explain to him that it's _Thanksgiving_, and that's important, and hasn't he ever done this before?

Then she stops, because this is the first Thanksgiving he's been away from Augustine in at least seventy years. So he has probably done this before, but when he was human, and that was a lifetime ago. So this, his being there? It's not because he's an avid follower of holiday tradition.

It's because she asked him (ordered him) to come, and so he did.

She smiles down into her potatoes.

"So, Enzo," Liam says after a moment of just the sound of clinking cutlery and dinnerware. "How did you meet Damon?"

"In prison," Enzo replies far too cheerfully, and Caroline almost chokes on her turkey, has to quickly wash it down with wine. "Careful, Gorgeous. Don't choke."

He pats her on her back and Caroline glares at him as she recovers. Elena looks as though she might be sick, and the expression on her face almost makes Caroline want to laugh, except that this situation isn't funny. Really, it's not.

"Prison," Liam repeats, staring at Enzo for a moment, before looking at Elena. "Your ex was in _prison_."

"Oh, this was ages ago," Enzo assures him with a wicked grin and a wave of his hand. "Damon was let out on good behavior. My release took a little longer."

"Ages ago… how old did you say you were again?"

Enzo merely smirks and sips some more wine. Liv, unable to hold it in anymore, lets out a tiny little chuckle that she tries to mask with a cough. It's almost enough to make Caroline break as well, because Liam's expression is just so confused.

"Well, I guess it makes sense, then. Your being unemployed. I hear it can be hard, your first while on the outside."

"Terribly so," Enzo agrees with mock solemnity. "But enough about me… tell me, Lockwood, have you and the little w – Liv finally stopped dancing around each other and done whatever it is you kids do to make things official?"

Now it's Tyler and Liv's turn to choke, and Caroline lets out a small groan and rests her head on her hand.

"How about you stay out of it," Tyler suggests with a glare.

"I dunno, I think it's a pretty valid question," Luke states, and he makes it sound so reasonable that Caroline wonders how anyone could argue. Judging by his wince, Liv does however. Violently and with her foot.

"Stay out of it, Luke," she says, before going back to her food as if nothing happened.

Enzo just shrugs and seems to decide to let everyone take a break, and Caroline breathes out in relief. But fate hates her, and someone decides to knock on the door.

Well, two someones, both of whom went by the name Salvatore.

"I hope we're not too late for pie!" Damon says jovially as he all but drags his brother into the room. "Our road trip came to a premature end, so I thought I'd come and take you up on your invitation."

"I don't see any cranberries," Caroline snaps back quickly when she sees Liam's eyes narrow, his mouth open to say something that would, inevitably, be very stupid to say to the vampire that has every reason in the world to want him out of the picture. "I'm pretty sure I told you to bring cranberries or not bother coming."

"You'll get over it, Blondie. Enzo is here, and I bet he didn't bring anything."

"You'd lose that bet," Enzo replies smugly. "I brought cake. Homemade."

"You bake?" Damon actually tears his eyes away from Liam and Elena, who are probably sitting far closer together than he would like, in order to gape at Enzo. "Really?"

"No," Elena replies, her voice filled with wry amusement. "He doesn't."

Damon looks at her again, and this time Elena looks back, and suddenly Caroline feels like a voyeur, even though she's hardly the only one in the room with them. But the look is electric and heated, and it makes her shift awkwardly, because she still hates that Elena could love Damon, but she hates that her bestfriend is back to living in denial even more. It won't end well for anyone – not Elena, not Damon, and not Liam.

"Hey, Care," Stefan says at last, and Caroline feels her jaw clench. She had been very careful to _not_ invite the younger Salvatore brother. Not because she had feeling for him (she could – _would_ – deal with that), but because Enzo had been so very, very right in his attacks on Stefan.

It _had_ taken her ignoring him to earn a modicum of respect, and it shouldn't have. She had thought they were friends, and he had taken her for granted. Once, Caroline would have welcomed him back anyway, so desperate for any sort of affection. But she wasn't that foolish little girl anymore, and she really deserved better.

"_You_ weren't invited, mate," Enzo points out coolly, and he's tense on his chair, as though he's considering going for the other man's throat. "I know because Caroline gave me a list of everyone who was invited. And showed me a power point on dos and don'ts for each."

"Really?" Liam asks. "Did prison leave you _that_ socially incapable?"

"Yes," chorus Caroline, Elena and Enzo, because he's nothing if not honest, and it gives him the opportunity to shoot Liam a smile that shows too many teeth and comes across as dangerous.

"Prison?" Damon echoes incredulously, and Caroline throws a quick elbow to his ribs.

"Uh… yeah. That's how you guys met, isn't it?"

Damon looks shocked for that moment, but then the shock morphs to anger as he looks at Caroline, who simply glares back and silently wills him not to do anything they can't easily take back. Of course, Damon has never done anything Caroline wanted, but when he looks at Liam, he catches sight of Elena as well, and she's silently pleading for him to play along as well.

He sighs and then gives a smile that is eerily reminiscent of Enzo's – dangerous and too many teeth.

"That's me, ex-felon. Careful, or I might shank you."

"Care," Stefan murmurs as Damon walks by her to join the table and Caroline moves to follow. "Can we talk?"

Caroline freezes, because she doesn't want to do this, but at the same time it's Stefan, and she wants to scream, because why is she so weak when it comes to him? She begins to turn, to agree to the plea in his voice and talk, but before she can Enzo is at her side.

"She's the hostess," he says to Stefan far too cheerfully for the glare in his eyes. "Can't leave her guests alone. Why don't we have a chat instead?"

"What are you, her guard dog now?" Stefan asks, glaring right back.

"Stefan, that's rude," Caroline says, rubbing between her eyes and the headache developing there, which is foolish because vampires don't get headaches. Not unless one of the twins is giving her a minor aneurysm, but a quick glance back shows that they're far too involved in watching the drama unfolding between Elena and her boys to pay attention to much else.

"Yes," Enzo states simply, and Caroline looks at him in surprise. "The truth is, you've been a right dick to her. And so I'll be her guard dog until she doesn't need one anymore."

"Maybe you should let her make her own decisions instead." Now Stefan is getting into Enzo's personal space, and the headache grows worse, because the last thing they need is a vampire brawl with Liam sitting there.

"Friends don't let friends do drugs, Stefan," Enzo replies, some amusement layering his voice. "And that's what you are for her. Addictive and unhealthy. So I think I'll stay right here in the middle."

Caroline wants to argue. It's stupid, her and Stefan have been friends for years, and Enzo shouldn't be interfering. It's between them… only…

Hadn't she just been thinking, about how easy it is to give in, to talk to him even, to forgive him, even though she knows it's not fair to her? Maybe Enzo is right, maybe Stefan is her drug, because she'd come to rely on him, had put him on a pedestal he didn't deserve, and now he wouldn't give her the space she so desperately needed.

She wants to cry. She wants to go to sleep.

She wants to be on Enzo's couch, hugging her pillow and watching Netflix.

"Cake," she says at last, interrupting the men in front of her and the burgeoning argument between Damon and Liam behind her. She spins around and claps her hands. "Let's have some of that cake!"

"Prepare yourselves, everyone," Elena says. "This is likely going to be horrible."

"I'll have you know that I followed the recipe perfectly, thank-you very much," Enzo tells her, so primly that Caroline actually finds herself chuckling. "It's going to be delicious."

"We really do need to talk," Stefan says to her as she moves to where the cake is stored, and it makes her steps falter. Because for a moment there she had actually been happy, and now she's right back to wanting to cry.

"No," she says, and it takes all her strength to do it. "We don't."

And then she walks away.

FRIENZOLINE

"You going to be okay, Gorgeous?"

The meal is complete and Caroline is cleaning up. Elena has disappeared along with Damon and Liam, as have the twins and Tyler. Caroline's not sure which of them is responsible for taking Stefan with them, but whoever it is she needs to thank, because it means that she can finally breathe again. She does so, each breath making her feel weak and angry at the same time, because why does she have to be so _hurt_ by this whole thing?

"Let's see… Friendsgiving was a disaster. Elena is stuck in yet another love triangle. Tyler is getting caught up with Liv, and something tells me that's going to end poorly. And Stefan is still…" – Caroline lets her words trail off and stacks the plates with a little more force than is necessary, and then lets out a curse when one of the plates chips – "just freaking perfect! I thought you had left."

"And leave you to clean up alone? I'm a gentleman." She throws him a disbelieving look and Enzo shrugs with a grin. "Well, okay. No, I'm not. But I'm not leaving you alone. I brought this."

He pulls a pie plate from behind his back, and Caroline feels her anger drain away as she looks at it. It's cherry, just like the one they shared in the diner, when they were marinating together.

"You went and got a pie?" she asks, a smile tugging at her lips.

"Indeed I did," Enzo replies, grabbing a pair of spoons and pulling out a chair for her, before sprawling in the one next to it. "C'mon. Marinate with me."

Caroline takes a seat, digs the spoon in, and takes a healthy bite.

"Oh my God," she says, because the pie is every bit as good as she remembers it being. "This is way better than the cake."

"I slaved over that cake," Enzo replies with faux indignation that has her chuckling, and he smirks and nudges her with his shoulder. "It wasn't that bad."

"Actually it was," she shoots back, then she smiles and leans her head against his shoulder. "Thanks, Enzo."

"It's just pie, Gorgeous," he replies, and Caroline straightens, because she knows he doesn't quite know how to handle these little moments, moments when they're open and genuine with each other, but that's okay, because she's not entirely comfortable with it yet, either. But he's her guard dog when she's too weak to guard herself. And he's the one who goes and gets her pie to cheer her up. The rest of it – being comfortable, even when the situation isn't, and admitting to having each other's back through it all? That will come with time.

Until then, they'll just eat pie.

**AN: And there you go! Now, I have had a few requests for this to become romantic Carenzo. I have to say, it's not going to happen. I sometimes write romantic Carenzo for **_**Odds and Ends**_**, so if you want it, you'll have to go there. This story is all about their developing friendship. Basically, they're ultimately going to become family. They will not be with each other romantically, but they will always have each other's backs, and basically it will be bros before hoes/sisters before misters/whatever other cliché verse you think of that means friends/family before romantic entanglements.**


	4. Tomorrow is stronger than yesterday

**AN: And I'm back with a new addition to Frienzoline! Fair warning to all, this is much more serious than past parts. It also borrows from recent canon, although all I know about the last two episodes is from my Tumblr dash, so it may not be accurate. **

**Tomorrow is stronger than yesterday**

"I don't want you killing people in my name."

She waits for him when he arrives home, looking pale and tired, and Enzo wonders who it was that when running to tattle on him – Donovan or the hero Stefan himself? If Enzo were a betting man, he would say Matt.

"Hello to you, too, Gorgeous," Enzo says in response, deciding to ignore her statement. He knows the avoidance tactic won't work, of course. Caroline Forbes is a force of nature, not some wilting little girl to be put off so easily. The thought of the lecture he's sure to get has him grasping the dog tags he still wears, rubbing the worn metal between his fingers and preparing himself.

Instead, she remains sitting on the couch, and he realizes that something very, very wrong.

"I don't want you killing people in my name," she repeats again, and then seems to curl in on herself. The sigh of her, looking so pale and tiny against the darkness of his apartment makes him pause. Usually her presence lights the room up, and she seems to fill it to the point where he sometimes wonders how there is any room left for him (but there is – she always makes sure there is). But today?

She looks small and weary and just a moment from completely falling apart.

"It's not all about you, Gorgeous," Enzo states after a moment, walking into the kitchen to pour himself a scotch. "It's also because I think Stefan Salvatore is a right prat."

She says nothing, just stares at him and he thinks that this is about more than just his vendetta against Stefan. Something is wrong with Caroline, and he sets his scotch aside, joins her on the couch. He doesn't say anything, just watches her, and after a moment a tear trails down her cheek. It's followed quickly by another, then another, until she can no longer be silent and begins to sob into her pillow.

"Hey," he says, an echo of when he had found her crying over Stefan in her car. "Hey, look at me."

She does, and his free hand curls into a fist. He wonders who he'll kill this time, thinks he'll enjoy doing it. All she has to do is tell him who hurt her.

"My mom has cancer."

And all the bravado and threats fly away, because this isn't something he can kill for her. This isn't something he can protect her from.

"Caroline…"

"I don't think she would have ever told me," Caroline admits, her eyes going hazy as she recalls… something. Enzo doesn't know what. "She would have just been there one day and gone the next, and I never would have known" – she stares down at her hands, still clutching the pillow, and Enzo realizes that they're shaking, that her whole body is shaking – "she would have _died_, and I wouldn't have known until it was too late."

She doesn't start to cry again, instead she just stands there, her body vibrating with emotion, her eyes red-rimmed, and Enzo found himself tugging her into him. For a moment, she stiffens in his arms – for all that she has a spot that belongs solely to her on his couch, they don't really hug – and then she curls into him. Her face buries against his neck, and he feels her tears soaking the neckline of his shirt. He tightens his arms around her and lets her cry, stroking her hair and murmuring what he hopes are soothing words.

This is new for him, trying to comfort someone. But she had managed to wiggle her way into his life, made herself not just important, but necessary to him, and now she's hurting, and this isn't something that can be fixed with a quick kill. So he'll hold her and let her cry into his shirt.

"Stefan had to tell me," she says at last, pulling away. "Elena compelled the nurse, and Stefan had to tell me… and all I could think was that I needed to…"

She trails off and hugs the pillow to her chest again. She looks down at it, and then pulls it away from her chest, to look at the white writing across the bright surface. She traces her finger over it, _hello Gorgeous_, and then looks around his apartment. There are signs of her everywhere – a bright yellow cardigan she had left behind, cheerful art that he had let her hang on his walls in an attempt to brighten the place up, even a guest room that he let her decorate to her specifics that's a bright blast of color clashing with the rest of the apartment. He watches her look around and wonders what she thinks when she sees those things.

"I needed to come here," she says at last, meeting his gaze. "I don't want you to kill in my name, Enzo. I just want you to help me through this, because I don't know how to be in a world where she's not."

She's asking him to give up on his vendetta, he knows. Stefan has everything – respect, a brother, this incredible girl who is still half in love with him despite the way he treated her – and it galls Enzo, to let him keep all that when he doesn't deserve it.

But her voice broke when she spoke, and her face is still tear streaked, and he's helpless to do anything but nod. He finds himself rubbing the dog tags again, and wonders if he's suddenly developed a nervous tick, or if he's hoping that the reminder of his own hardships might somehow magically give him the ability to help her make it through her own.

"It's done," he says, because he doesn't know what else to do, but give her the promise she asks for. "Just… just tell me what you need from me."

"This," she says, and she curls into his side again. "Just keep doing this."

NEW-ROMANTICS

He's in the waiting room while she visits with Liz when Stefan takes the seat next to him. Enzo ignores him, fingers holding his dog tags as he listens to Caroline speak with her mother. Their voices are thick with tears, and he knows this must be so difficult. A hundred times the sheriff could have died of natural causes, and in the end it's one of the few things Caroline's blood can't cure her of.

"We need to talk," Stefan says after he's been there for a few minutes and Enzo's said nothing.

"I have nothing to say to you," Enzo replies grimly, staring straight ahead. "I've promised her I'll leave you be, and I will. But I really don't have anything to say to you. I'm here for the girl that's currently begging her mother to become a vampire."

"Liz will say no."

Enzo shoots him a quick, frustrated glance, because he _knows_ that. He's spend the last twenty minutes listening to Liz explain to her daughter that a vampire's life isn't for him, listened to Caroline beg her to just _try_. He doesn't need Stefan Salvatore of all people to inform him of what is quite blatantly obvious.

"I'm not the bad guy in our situation, Enzo," Stefan says at last, frustrated again by Enzo's continued silence.

"Of course not. You're the good one, right? The one that can do no wrong. Never a bloody terrible deed in all your days – at least not that anyone bothers to remember. I'll leave you be, Stefan. Take it and leave."

"She won't accept my help" – the words surprise Enzo, and he feels his spine stiffen, shoots Stefan a quick look out of the side of his eye. The frustration in his voice is matched by the same frustration in his eyes, and Enzo has to bite back a smirk, because just because he agreed to leave the other man alone doesn't mean he won't enjoy what little of his suffering he can – "Caroline… _I_ used to be her best friend, and then I screwed it up, and she won't accept my help. So I'm not here to call you the bad guy, I'm here to ask you to take care of her."

"I don't need you to ask-"

"_I_ need to ask it, dammit!" Stefan hisses, his grip tightening on the arms of his chair until cloth tears and metal bends. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, and Enzo watches with curiosity. He's seen Stefan angry before, but never quite this… _passionate_. "I need to ask you to take care of her, because it's the only thing I can do. I screwed up our friendship, and somehow she ended up turning to you, and now all I can do is ask you to take care of her. So I don't care that _you_ don't need to be asked… I'm still asking."

Enzo says nothing. Stefan is still a useless twat as far as he's concerned. He gave up on his brother far too easily, was too quick to hurt the one girl that could make the world brighter just with her mere presence, and he got away with it all… but for the first time in months, Enzo doesn't want to rip his heart out.

It's progress, he supposes.

"I'll take care of her," Enzo says at last. "Not because you're asking me, or because she needs anyone to take care of her – she doesn't, she's strong and capable and she'll survive this – but I'll still take care of her. Because I don't think I can do anything else."

Stefan nods his head slowly, and the pair lapses into silence. Caroline's voice reaches them, no longer begging with Liz, but instead reminiscing about a time when she was little and would try on Liz's shoes. Enzo smirks slightly, picturing a tiny Caroline – still bursting with energy and filling the room, of course – in shoes far too big, and he thinks that her smile had likely been the same. Huge and as bright as the sun.

He hasn't seen that smile in the week since she discovered her mother had cancer.

"When this is all done, I'm going to take her away from here," he tells Stefan, who looks at him with surprise. "She won't want to go, not with you lot always getting into trouble, but I'm taking her somewhere. She'll need it."

"Yeah," Stefan says at last, giving a slow nod. "Yeah."

Then they hear Caroline saying good-bye to her mom, promising to be back the next day, and when Enzo looks at the seat next to him, Stefan is gone. He scowls at the empty seat, because damn the world if a tiny little spark of respect doesn't appear for the younger Salvatore brother. He doesn't want to respect Stefan, not even a little bit, but Enzo knows the pull Caroline has, and had the situation been reversed, he's not so sure he could have left so easily, even if it was to ensure her comfort.

She joins him in the waiting room, takes Stefan's empty seat, and Enzo remains sitting, waiting for her to say something.

"I still hate him," she says at last, and Enzo realizes that she heard his conversation with Stefan. Seeing his surprise, she snorts lightly and taps her ear. "Super vampire hearing. And I still hate him. It's easier, when I hate him."

"Hate is the easiest of all emotions," Enzo agrees, leaning forward to rest his arms on his legs.

"My mom won't turn."

"I heard."

They lapse into silence, and Caroline pulls her legs up onto the chair. She's done that a lot lately, made herself seem smaller, as though by curling into as small a space as possible, she can somehow lessen the grief. Enzo reaches out, and grabs one of her hands, squeezes it lightly.

"I won't want to go," she says, squeezing his hand back. "When… when this is over. When she's gone. I won't want to go. I'll want to throw myself into whatever insane plot Elena and the others are up to, and I'll want to hide from my grief. It's how I deal with this sort of stuff."

Enzo says nothing, just holds her hand and wishes he could somehow stop all of this, save her from the grief that she's already beginning to feel, but that will still become far worse in the coming days.

"Don't let me," she says, looking at him with a fierce light in her eyes. "When it's done, get me the hell away from here. Do whatever you have to. Get me the hell out of this place. Promise me, Enzo."

"It's the grief talking right now, but when I do get you away from here, I will point you back to this conversation," he tells her, and she nods her head.

"That's fine. I'll probably yell at you. A lot."

"You do that anyway, Gorgeous."

Caroline chuckles, and for the first time, he sees that smile peek through her grief, the one that lights up the world. It's brief, but it tells him that she _will_ make it through this. Caroline Forbes is the strongest person he knows, and the grief will hurt her, but it will not destroy her.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asks at last, and Enzo startles, because he hadn't realized he had been looking at her in any sort of way.

"Like what?"

"I dunno… it's just weird."

"I was just thinking, that you're probably the strongest of us all."

Caroline snorts again at that, and Enzo frowns lightly, because she never seems to realize just how amazing she is. How _strong_ she is.

"What are those?" she asks, and he blinks when he realizes the dog tags are once again between his fingers. "I mean, I know _what_ they are, but you play with them when you're upset. When did you get them?"

He flips them over and looks at them, the identifying marks from a time when he was still alive, before Augustine and so much hatred filled his life.

"They're a reminder of a different life," he says, tugging them off of his neck. He holds them flat in the palm of his hand, and Caroline looks at them from her curled position. "A reminder that I am capable of being good and brave, even if I sometimes lose my way."

He doesn't even really think about it when he lifts the chain over her head, lets the dog tags hang down her chest. Her eyes dart up at him in surprise as he pulls her hair out from under it and then presses a kiss to her forehead.

"You're good and brave, Caroline Forbes," he tells her, lips still grazing her skin. "And you'll survive this. I know it. And even when you're not sure of it, I will be."

She lifts the dog tags, running her fingers along the worn surface, and then looks at him again. The silence between them is filled with tension and words that they both want to say, but they're still not that good at this. For all the bonds that have formed between them, neither of them is entirely sure how to express the other's importance. Finally, Caroline just leans forward, so her head rests against Enzo's shoulder.

"Thank-you," she murmurs.

And for them, it's enough.

**AN: And there it is. As I mentioned, anything spoilery in here is from my Tumblr dash, as I am now a member of TVD rehab and no longer actually watch the show. I will still be writing for the fandom however (obviously). **

**If any of you enjoy the show **_**Charmed**_** and crack!pairings, you should go and read my new story **_**Who We Were**_**, which is a TVD/Charmed story with Caroline/Chris Halliwell pairing. And if you wanted to tell me what you think about it, and this, that would be really cool of you.**


	5. A Frienzoline Christmas

**AN: Merry Christmas to all my readers! I thought you guys deserved a little something as a gift, so I wrote a Christmas chapter for this! It's a little sad, a little funny, and Enzo is a sweetheart who just can't say no to a Forbes lady.**

**A Frienzoline Christmas**

"You need to take her out tomorrow. Get her smiling."

Enzo hadn't been sure what to expect when Elizabeth Forbes had called him, asking him to come and visit her without her daughter in tow – perhaps a threat that he had better not corrupt her, or to simply glare at him as her daughter occasionally did – but it certainly hadn't been _that_.

"Pardon?" he asked, just to be sure that he hadn't heard wrong.

Liz raised a brow and adjusted her position on her pillow, making herself more comfortable. She was pale, almost grey, and her eyes were sunken and her head was covered with a scarf to hide her lack of hair. Enzo knew she didn't believe the chemo would do anything, but she had made a promise to Caroline to _try_, because she refused to let her daughter turn her. Liz looked like crap, but her voice when she had spoken had been strong, and she clearly knew that Enzo had heard her.

"Sherriff, with all due respect, it's all I can do to get her to go home at night. Hell, I just barely managed to convince her to write her last exams."

That had been a vicious argument, because she hadn't wanted to leave her mother alone, but he had refused to let her simply toss her schooling aside. Not with all the time they had spent studying, not with how much he knew she wanted to be successful in getting her degree, in making something of herself. And she would – Enzo had no doubt of that. He very much looked forward to be being at her side as she did so.

"Look, normally I would ask Stefan. But Caroline still won't talk to him. And as much as I love Elena, she hasn't always been the best of friends to my daughter. You, on the other hand, seem to be the one she turns to these days. So I'm turning to you as well. It's Christmas Eve tomorrow, Enzo. I know there's no chance of getting her away on Christmas, but tomorrow? I don't care if all you can drag her away for is a couple of hours… just…" Liz's gaze turned whimsical, as she looked out the window, and she looked so small and frail and very, very sad. "She hasn't smiled since she found out. I would love to see her smile again."

And because Enzo felt the same way – he had missed that brilliant grin of hers – and because this was Caroline's mother, and it seemed he could no more say no to her than he could the daughter, Enzo found himself nodding.

This was sure to bite him in the ass.

FRIENZOLINE

"I should be with Mom," Caroline growled at him when she came to the next afternoon in his car. Enzo had considered reasoning with her, but he wasn't particularly good at that. Snapping necks, though? _That_ was something he excelled in. "What the hell, Enzo?"

"I did it on your mother's orders, Gorgeous," Enzo said quickly, because he knew Caroline well enough by now to know that she was one wrong word from hitting him.

And apparently his had been the wrong words, because she drilled her knuckles painfully into his arm.

"My mom so did _not_ tell you to _snap my freaking neck!_"

And okay, he had to acknowledge her point there. Liz had most definitely not said _snap my daughter's neck and kidnap her_… but surely Liz knew her daughter well enough to know it was what it would take? I mean, daughter was as stubborn as mother, but neither of them lacked self-awareness.

Enzo really hoped that the next time he saw Sherriff Forbes, she wouldn't greet him with a bullet for his method of getting Caroline away for a few hours.

"She told me to get you away for a while, Gorgeous," he said, still a little uneasy over what Liz might to do him for hurting her daughter, no matter how noble his reasons. "And okay, maybe I should have tried to reason with you first, but can you really tell me it would work?"

"Well, we'll never know now, will we?" Caroline retorted defiantly, crossing her arms and glaring at him. Enzo shot her a quick, unimpressed look, and she huffed and pouted a little. "Okay, probably not" – he looked at her again, and she crinkled her nose, before finally sighing in defeat – "_fine_. Definitely not. But still, you should have _asked_. Jumping straight to neck snaps is just rude, Enzo."

"Sorry, Dear," he drawled out, making Caroline huff and drill her knuckles into his arm once more. He winced and muttered a curse. "And you call me rude? I spent years in a cage like a dog – what's your excuse for your lapse in deportment, Miss Mystic Falls?"

"I know you think that using big words makes you seem charming or debonair or something, but it really just makes you sound pretentious" – she crossed her arms and glared out the window – "_jerk_."

"Manners, Gorgeous. And after I went through the effort to plan us an afternoon outing and everything."

"I don't _want_ an afternoon outing," Caroline replied, frustration leaking into her tone. "I _want_ to spend as much time with my mom as I can!"

Enzo saw the tears sparkling in her eyes, and he hit the breaks, pulling onto the side of the road.

"She's still there, Gorgeous-"

"For how much longer?" Caroline cut him off harshly. "I'm not stupid, Enzo. I know that the chemo isn't working, that it was a long shot to begin with. She refuses to take vampire blood. The tumor is inoperable. She's going to die. I know that. So why does everyone act like it's wrong that I want to spend as much time with her as I can?"

"It's not," Enzo replied quietly, a rare tone for him, and that more than his words ever could made Caroline begin to visibly calm down. "Caroline, no one thinks it's wrong that you want to spend time with your mother. Not her, not me – _no one_. But she wants you to get out for a little bit, to have some fun. Even if it's just for an hour."

"How do I do that?" Caroline asked, her voice small and tears that she tried to valiantly fight off clinging to her eyelashes. "How do I have fun when she can't?"

"Well now, that's why I'm here isn't it?" Enzo gave her a wicked grin, and it caused a shadow of her old smile to haunt her lips. Nothing close to the smile he knew was in her, the one Liz wanted to see again, but it was something at least. "You just trust me, and I promise that you'll have yourself some fun."

She didn't say anything, but her hand reached out to cover his on the gear shift. As it always did, the soft contact threw him off a little, but not as much as it used to. He was getting used to it, he realized, these little signs of affection from her. He had grown used to it, had even begun to return them somewhat.

He still wasn't entirely sure what to make out of that.

FRIENZOLINE

Caroline stared at the large building Enzo had parked in front of. _Lasertopia_ was emblazoned in huge, colorful letters across the cement front of the building. Caroline stared at it and blinked, as though that would somehow change what she was seeing.

Nope. Still laser tag.

"Seriously?" she asked him when he opened the door, as she seemed to have no inclination to get out of the vehicle herself.

"What?" he asked, holding his hand out to her like a true gentleman. "Afraid of a little friendly competition?"

They were the right words this time. Challenge sparked into her eyes, brought color to her cheeks that had been lacking since her discovery of Liz's illness, and she slapped her hand firmly into his. He pulled her out of the car, and this time her smirk had a bit more life to it.

"Challenge accepted!"

She strode determinedly for the front door, because if Enzo thought for a _second_ that he was going to beat her here, then he had a surprise coming. Caroline had spent nearly every weekend from the age of ten until fifteen at the shooting range with Liz, learning the proper stance, the correct way to aim, and anything and everything else she could about firearms. She had hated it, of course. Back then, Caroline's world had lacked in the supernatural, and she hadn't understood why Liz was so determined she be able to shoot when, as far as she was concerned, her life began and ended with whether or not she made the cheerleading squad.

Since turning, Caroline had picked up the habit again, finding the act of shooting to be weirdly calming, and her shot hadn't suffered in the least from her becoming a vampire – if anything, it had become even better.

"You do know I was a soldier, right?" Enzo asked her as they were put in a group with a bunch of fourteen year olds and were fitted with vests.

"You do know I'm a sheriff's daughter, right?" Caroline replied, hitting the button on her gun that had both weapon and vest lighting up. "I hope you're ready to lose, _Handsome_."

"Is that a challenge, Gorgeous? I'm pretty sure that sounded like a challenge."

"Bring it," she replied with a wicked grin, and then shot out into the dark of the course, easily sweeping by the teens and into the depths of the maze. Enzo felt his eyes narrow, feeling the competitive streak he hadn't much used since he was fighting for his life in the trenches begin to rear his head.

_Oh, it was on_.

FRIENZOLINE

"Did they get you, too?"

"Yeah, it sucks. They're totally old. Didn't anyone tell them that they're supposed to let us win?"

"I'm just glad I got out of there. Those two were scary. I swear that the lady had _fangs_ at some point."

"Don't be stupid, Tim. There's no way that they had _fangs_."

Tim shrugged as his friend, Alex, scoffed at his statement, then looked back into the darkness of the maze and shivered. He didn't care if Alex didn't believe him, he _swore_ she had fangs. And that she appeared out of _nowhere_. It was totally freaky, and Tim was glad he had been killed off.

Better to wait for everyone in the safety of the light than to be out in the darkness with _that_.

FRIENZOLINE

She was a consummate predator. The little brats didn't stand a chance – not that she much cared about them anyway. They were just obstacles in the way of the _real_ target. She took them out one by one, ignoring their whining and angry mutters.

Who cared about the brats – she was out for _Enzo._

She prowled through the dark. Her blood pumped wildly, and she swore that everything smelled a little stronger, looked a little clearer as she prowled through the dark. _This_ is what she was meant for. The hunt – the _prowl_.

She heard a scrape to her left and dove into a roll, coming up smoothly to shoot her would-be attacker. She knew before she pulled the trigger that it wasn't Enzo, and the angry mutter told her she was right. She didn't pay attention to the girl, though, instead continued to prowl through the dark, ever alert to her surroundings.

He was out there, somewhere. And she would _find_ him.

She heard another curse through the dark – another little child taken out, and she knew that it had to be Enzo that did the shooting. Once the teens had realized that their elder competition wasn't screwing around, they had been quick to join together and team up. It had been pointless, of course, but Caroline could appreciate the attempt.

And now she would appreciate the little scamp that gave her a hint to Enzo's location.

She moved quickly through the maze, keeping low to keep the targets on her vest as difficult a target as possible. She reached the area where the mutter had come from, and knew that Enzo was gone. But she sniffed the air, searching for his scent. It was difficult – the whole place wreaked of sweat and adolescent boy, but beneath that, she could just smell Enzo, a scent she had come to know almost as well as her own, or her mother's.

She went on the prowl again. There were no sounds besides her own breathing, her own soft steps. They had defeated all the brats. Now all that was left was each other.

She threw herself behind a barrier as a laser stream flew at her. Light on her feet, she rolled behind the next barrier, finger on her trigger, and shot a stream back. She couldn't see Enzo's lights, but she knew he was there, crouched and hiding just as she was.

"You won't win this, Gorgeous!" he called out, and Caroline smirked at that, because rookie mistake, to let her know where he was.

She remained quiet, moving from barrier to barrier swiftly – and there it was. The glow of targets on a vest.

She shot, and it would have been a bullseye if he hadn't thrown himself at the last second.

"Heads up, Handsome!" she called out mockingly, and heard him chuckle in response.

And that's when war began.

With the other's presence now known, it turned into a battle of dodges and quick shots. Hers were more accurate, she noticed with some smugness, and he cursed more than she did, although there was that one time where she had to throw herself onto her stomach to dodge a shot that elicited a sharp _fuck_ from her.

"Come on out, Gorgeou!" he called out. Caroline had taken cover behind a barrier, held her gun at the ready, finger on the trigger. She had a plan. It was a suicide mission, of course. If she missed, it would leave her wide open, but –

_She wouldn't miss_.

He was a little smug, thinking that he had her cornered, but Caroline was good at being underestimated. And so, when he was in just the right position, Caroline made her move.

She had been right – if it didn't work, she would have been shot and lost. He spun that quickly, hitting his trigger and she had nowhere to dodge to.

But nothing came out of his gun.

Her aim had been true.

"Yes!" she shrieked out victoriously, a smile stretching her lips, because hell if that hadn't been the most alive she'd felt… _ever_. "I win! I win!"

She knew it wasn't the best sportsmanship, but this was Enzo, and she was a baby vampire, and she had just _won_.

The lights came on, the game done, but she still bounced on her toes, grinning victoriously as she did another spin. As she halted, grinning at Enzo, he was tucking his hand in his pocket. Probably sheepish, she thought, to have lost to a baby vampire.

"You win, Gorgeous," he acknowledged, bowing his head with far more grace than Caroline would have expected. She narrowed her eyes slightly at him in suspicion, and he just smiled and shook his head. "It's good to see you smile."

She paused at that, quirking her head and trying to remember when she _had_ smiled like that. Before her mother was diagnosed, that was for sure.

She hadn't thought of it, she realized. Her expression softening as she looked at Enzo. He had known, she realized. He had known that this would get her mind off of things, that she would be so caught up in the thrill of the hunt that, for an hour or so, that she hadn't thought of Liz, or the grief of her inevitable loss.

She threw her arms around Enzo, not caring that he stiffened for a moment before hugging her back, because he was getting better about it – had hardly been awkward at all.

"Thank-you," she whispered fiercely.

"Any time, Gorgeous."

FRIENZOLINE

"Enzo didn't come with you?"

"He said he might stop by later, but thought we should get some time to ourselves first," Caroline replied, dropping her coat over the extra visitors chair and carrying in a bag of parcels. "But he did send this for you."

"That was kind of him," Liz replied, her expression strained as she accepted the rather poorly wrapped gift from Caroline. He had wrapped it himself, obviously.

Caroline knew her smile was strained as well, but seeing her mom there, looking so pale and sick… she just couldn't help it.

Liz tore the paper off of Enzo's present, and Caroline frowned slightly when she saw the gilded edge of a frame. She couldn't see what it held, but what Liz stared at it for a long moment, tears pooling in her eyes, and she covered them.

"Mom," Caroline said, rushing to her side and wondering what stupid thing Enzo could have possibly done. She froze when she saw the picture. It had been taken when she was dancing in the height of her victory the previous day. Her hands were the air, her eyes were sparkling, and the smile across her lips was brilliant and genuine.

She wasn't sure when Enzo had taken it, but Liz clutched it tightly and looked up at her.

"It's perfect," she admitted. "It's all I could have wanted for Christmas. Your smile."

Caroline bit her lip to fight back her own tears and curled up on the bed next to her.

"I totally kicked his ass at laser tag," she told her mother pertly, and Liz smiled, brushing her hair out of her face.

"That's my girl."

When Enzo showed up a little over an hour later, the picture was on the bedside table, and both Forbes women were chatting cheerfully, eating the jelly salad Caroline had prepared just because it was something better than hospital food that Liz could actually eat.

"Enzo," Liz greeted with a warm smile. "Come and have some jell-o."

Enzo smiled in reply and as Caroline got up to get him some of the salad, Liz reached out to squeeze his hand.

"Thank-you," she said, looking at the picture. Caroline turned back to them, her smile nearly as warm as in the picture, and Enzo squeezed Liz's hand back.

"Any time."

**AN: And I hope you guys enjoyed it! Again, Merry Christmas – or Happy Holidays to those of you that don't celebrate Christmas. I hope it treats you and your families well.**


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